Leaving Home
by Whipper
Summary: Angst, mentions self-injury but just a little, little bit. Otherwise just nice, traditional ELF :) A few weeks pre-seaQuest. First in a series.


**Author's Notes; **Thanks to devilrats/heather b for excellent beta-work. All mistakes errors are mine and in all likelihood caused by me ignoring what my beta told me ;) Disclaimers apply. 

**LEAVING HOME,**  
written by Whipper 

____________________

Biff; i still don't understand... :-( how can he do this to you?   
Lucas; money? :-)   
Lucas; and influence, of course. let's not forget that.   
Biff; yeah, yeah. i get that part. but why??   
Lucas; because i'm his good for nothing, disrespectful son? :-]   
Biff; have i ever mentioned that you, in all likelihood, are a member of the Dysfunctional Family of the year?   
Lucas; nah... just the one with the most money to spend :-D   
Biff; if you say so :-)   
Biff; are you gonna be ok?   
Lucas; on the sQ you mean?   
Biff; yeah   
Lucas; don't have much of a choice now do i?   
Biff; you'll still have us though.   
Lucas; yeah. i'll still have my computers too... :-) Biff; speaking of which, man... 

____________________

Lucas was relieved as Biff, his best IRL friend, changed the subject. He didn't want to think about having to leave the place that he had been calling home for almost two years. His father might never be around, but he had gotten to know the staff pretty well. He even had some real life friends that, according to Biff, were going to miss him when he left. 

He pressed Alt, Shift to change to another window on his laptop. The night before he had hacked the seaQuest main computer for some information other than the crap he'd been able to find at the UEO official website. If he was going to live on that submarine for months, maybe even years, he sure had the right to know everything there was to know about the ship. He didn't want to die at the age of 16 just because someone had made some stupid mistake. He knew, of course, that the guy who had came up with the original designs to the seaQuest, some old man named Bridger, was pretty well respected. In fact, Lucas himself had to admire the guy for some of the details on the ship, but he still wanted to go through everything himself before he stepped foot on the seaQuest. 

He snorted as he realized how arrogant he sounded. 

He knew he had a bad attitude about his IQ. He admittedly wasn't a very humble about it. But being a genius had taken so much away from him, made him so different. Some people feared him while others were fascinated. He was quite disgusted by both reactions by now. He didn't find his arrogance strange since all he had ever had to rely on was his intelligence. 

With a small sigh he returned his attention to the screen and his conversation with biff. 

____________________

Biff; do you still have the original matrix movie on your computer?   
Lucas: sure, wanna download it?   
Biff; yeah, thanks. a friend haven't seen it yet. can you believe that? heathen ;-D 

____________________ 

"Lucas?" 

The teenager quickly turned around and pulled down the sleeves on his sweater self-consciously. He made a mental note to himself to get out and buy some new clothes that covered his body better before he left. Sure, a military submarine was bad but he was pretty convinced that a mental institution would be worse. 

"Come in, David." 

The door to Lucas room was opened by a short, black man with a kind smile on his lips. David had been working for the Wolenczaks for a couple of years now and he seemed to really care for the young man in his charge. Lucas himself had grown fond of the kind, old man who, unlike his own father, always seemed to have a moment to spare. 

"You might consider letting in some fresh air in here every now and then," David told him. "And make sure Mrs. Standish doesn't find all those candy wrappings. She might begin to think you don't like her cooking." 

"I love her cooking and she knows it," Lucas answered the man with an answering smile on his lips. "You came here just to complain about my eating habits?" 

"Of course not. Your father's chauffeur just called. Dr. Wolenczak left the labs a couple of minutes ago and he wants you to know that he'll be picking you up in twenty minutes or so." As Lucas didn't seem to understand, he added, "Dinner with your dad tonight? Had you forgotten?" 

Lucas shook his head in dismay. He had been kind of hoping his father would cancel, or even better, forget about the dinner. It was just a way for the famous scientist to "make everything okay" before he sent his son to the seaQuest and if there was something Lucas hated it was the feeling of being manipulated. 

"I'll be down in a couple of minutes," he sighed. 

"Very well." David nodded and closed the door silently. 

____________________

Lucas; have to go. dinner arrangements with daddy dearest.   
Biff; later then?   
Lucas; yeah, later... 

____________________ 

With another sigh he changed his clothes, careful not to look at himself in the mirror. Jeans, a black polo and a big t-shirt from a concert he'd been to. Hardly the kind of clothes his father approved of but then Lucas wasn't really in the mood to pay any attention to his father's wishes right now. His father sure as hell wasn't paying attentions to his. 

He pulled a comb through his hair a couple of times and then quickly collected all the candy wrappers and put them in what had used to be his school bag. He didn't want to get Mrs. Standish angry at him for eating between meals. Not now when he'd be leaving in just a couple of days. He felt a lump in his throat as he realized that he might never see David or Mrs. Standish again after he'd left for the seaQuest. 

"Lucas, your father's here!" 

He bit his lip hard and hurried down the stairs. 

_A few hours later... _

____________________

Lucas; i'm baaack...   
Biff; hiya! how did it go?   
Lucas; as expected. you come up with the title of that movie yet?   
Biff; yeah :) i'm downloading it right now from that friend of yours. woolfman...   
Lucas; cool... just wanted to say goodnight.   
Biff; already?   
Lucas; yeah, well. i have a lot to do tomorrow. have to pack my things and stuff like that...   
Biff; ok. i'll see you tomorrow then?   
Lucas; as always :-] g'nite.   
Biff; nite. 

____________________ 

Leaving the computer, Lucas threw himself on the bed and closed his eyes. He didn't bother to take off his clothes because then he'd have to get up and lock the door and he was just too tired for that. Besides, these days he didn't really enjoy looking at his body. He stayed like that on bed for some time but sleep didn't come and his thoughts wouldn't leave him alone so finally he just gave up. Several books were laying on the floor next to his bed, begging to be read, and Biff would still be awake for a couple of hours but he wasn't in the mood for company; be it real people or his old friend, Science. 

I'm such a loser, he thought to himself as he opened the door and went to the bathroom. Such a pathetic, fucked-up loser. When he finally reached his destination he locked the door and sank down on the cold bathroom floor. Thoughts about the dinner with his father invaded his mind... 

_ "I've talked to a Dr. Kristen Westphalen," Lawrence Wolenczak said with a hesitant smile on his lips. "She's the one who's in charge of the scientist onboard the seaQuest." _

"Uh-huh," Lucas mumbled and pushed his salad around on his plate. 

Dr. Wolenczak was pretty much treating his food in the same way as his son. None of them seemed to enjoy their expensive meals or the conversation very much. 

"She said there would be plenty of opportunities for you to work on your vocorder and... all your other experiments." 

"Great." 

"She said you'd be given a room of your own." 

Lucas snorted loudly. 

"They better! What would the option be? For me to share room with some... marines? Or maybe they'd just put me in the same room as the missiles?" 

"There are actually more scientists on the seaQuest than there are UEO military men," Lawrence answered his son quietly. 

The teenager bit down hard on his lip. He hated the way his father would go all quiet and calm when they were arguing. Dr. Wolenczak was infamous for his temper. While he'd been married to Lucas mother, Cynthia Holt, their fights had been... "formidable". On a bad day he'd yell at his coworkers and innocent bystanders as well as his bosses. It was a sad fact that a lot of very important people were intimidated by the short, slightly over-weight man. But yet, Lucas thought with a sigh, Dr. Wolenczak seldom yelled at his son. It happened of course. But usually he'd just be like this, making Lucas feel like a bastard for being angry in the first place. 

Lucas pressed his burning face against his hands. His father was on his way to some big conference right now and they wouldn't see each other again until... whenever Lucas left the seaQuest. 

"It's not fair," he told himself and closed his eyes again. 

_ "I just wanted to say goodbye to you, Lucas." _

"Goodbye," Lucas answered his father quickly without looking up from the almost untouched plate in front of him. That way at least his father wouldn't see the tears that burned his eyes. 

"Let's not do it like this, Lucas. Please? You're my son and-" 

"I'm sorry, I have to go to the bathroom." 

He quickly skipped ahead in his memories. He didn't want to remember the moments spent in the bathroom. Was too ashamed to. Too disgusted with himself for finding strength in such self-destructive actions. 

_"I'm sorry... dad," he said with a tired voice as he returned. _

"So am I, Lucas. I don't want to send you away. It's just... for your own best. And it won't be for long, I promise." 

"Just until you're done with the power plant," Lucas repeated what his father had stressed from the moment he had told his son about the seaQuest. 

"Yes," Dr. Wolenczak smiled at his son with a little hope in his eyes. "Then you and I'll spend some quality time with each other. How does that sound?" 

Lucas nodded and he wished that he could somehow believe what his father told him. 

Cynthia Holt had believed Larry's honest eyes when he promised her he'd be home early for years and years and Lucas had spent his entire life waiting for his father. The reason for why they had both had trusted him for so long was probably because the scientist believed in what he said himself. He had loved his wife, at least in the beginning, and he truly and deeply cared for his son. 

Thing just... never seemed to work out the way he had promised they would. 

With a tired sniff, Lucas got up from the floor and made his way to the other end of the bathroom. He undressed quickly before he stepped into the shower. The water burned his arms and he almost cried out in pain but he didn't. He just took a few deep breaths and let the water run down his body until his tired muscles relaxed and his mind began floating. 

_ "I'll see you later then," Lucas said as he stepped out of the car outside the house. _

"I'll call you in a couple of days," Dr. Wolenczak promised. "And I've already made arrangements so that you'll be able to spend Christmas here with me." 

This was new for Lucas and he looked up, a small smile on his lips. 

"Really?" 

"I make my own schedule while working on the plant so there won't be any problems." 

As the smile on Lucas' face grew bigger, so did his father's. For a moment it felt as if the two of them might give each other a hug, but the moment passed as a loud beep was heard. Lawrence made a small face as he looked at his cell phone. 

"That's Bill, probably wondering if I'm on my way." 

Lucas nodded, the smile wiped away from his face. 

"Bye, dad," he said quickly, then he turned around and hurried back to the house. 

As Lucas left the bathroom, wet hair plastered against his head and his clothes in his arms, he thought about next Christmas and hoped that his father, for once, would keep one of his many promises. 


End file.
